Hopkinsville Electric System and Energynet (HES) General Manager, Jeff Hurd and Pennyrile Rural Electric CEO, Alan Gates provided updates to the expansion of broadband internet in the region and power restoration following May’s storms at Tuesday’s Hopkinsville Rotary Club meeting.
Earlier in June HES celebrated 25 years of providing broadband internet and serving over 10,000 customers. In 2018 HES and Pennyrile Electric partnered to expand broadband internet to the surrounding counties including Trigg, Caldwell, Logan, Lyon, Muhlenberg, Todd, Butler and Simpson Counties.
Gates says by the end of the year all Pennyrile Electric customers in Christian County will have access to broadband internet and so will 85% of the company’s coverage region.
Gates says the continued expansion has been made possible after Kentucky was approved for a grant totaling around $1.1 billion from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program. Gates says some of the grant funds will go toward expanding broadband internet services in Trigg, Muhlenberg, Lyon and Caldwell Counties where other grants have not been affective.
After recently celebrating 10,000 customers served, Hurd says they are already close to reaching 11,000 customers. Hurd says as the company continues to expand services, workers have been focusing on ensuring reliability by using fiber cables over wireless options.
As a result of storms that impacted the region on May 26, around 5,000 HES customers and 28,000 Pennyrile Electric customers were temporarily without power. Gates says storm repairs cost around $8 million.
Gates says if the storm damage is declared an emergency and a FEMA event then they could receive around 70% of the funds back from repairs. However, if the storm damage is declared an emergency, then it may be a couple years until that money is received.